Conduit

One logical computer, made from the computers you have.

Conduit is an experimental programming system for connecting computation, interfaces, and devices into one continuing computer: a Body. That Body might live on one machine, or span a laptop, browser, server, and microcontroller. Its programs describe what should happen; Conduit checks how the available machinery can realize that work.

See ConduitOS running: the illustrated visual journey

Follow the actual x86_64 system through Tour, Patchbay, keyboard and pointer interaction, and USB Line attachment. The 17 screenshots come from a QEMU journey with correlated runtime evidence. This is emulator evidence; physical laptop support is an ongoing project.

Try the interactive Tour · Inspect current product truth · Start contributing · What works · What we're building next

A program is a Form

form hello {
    upper: text/upper
    show: presentation/text

    "Hello, world." > upper > show
}

This Form connects an uppercase transformation to text presentation. It produces HELLO, WORLD. without naming an operating system, display, device, or transport. A Host offers implementations and resources. An immutable Plan records the exact choices and finite limits. A Play executes that Plan through the shared kernel.

Forms are graphs of configured Gears, joined at typed Ports by Cords. A Form can also appear as a Gear inside another Form through its public Face. Its Back exposes the composition behind that contract. You can inspect those relationships in Patchbay.

The Body gives this work continuity: it can contain several Forms and retain its identity while machinery goes offline or is replaced. Membership, connectivity, and permission are separate decisions. The architecture guide explains the design.

What you can explore

Surface	What it does	Start here
Tour	Run and edit real Forms in a browser, with embedded Patchbay inspection	Open Tour
Patchbay	Inspect and compose Forms; explore Body state, execution, Watches, and retained observations	Patchbay guide
Crèche	Birth a Body, select its initial Forms, and prepare target-specific machinery	Open Crèche
ConduitOS	Run the same architectural kernel on a freestanding Host, with an x86_64 graphical shell and other serial targets	Visual journey · Build and boot
Devices and distributed work	Exercise bounded Host membership and Lines, including recorded physical Pico W control and recovery	Target guides · Proof limits

These are working experimental slices with different levels of proof. Conduit is not yet a general desktop OS or a turnkey distributed application platform. The current-product truth surface names the latest development commit, accepted release, published Pages artifact, lag, and exact proof receipts. The current status explains the capability boundary. Source capability, browser proof, freestanding-emulator proof, physical/HIL proof, human enactment, and released-product proof remain different claims.

Run from a checkout

Install Rust through rustup and Git. The checkout pins its Rust toolchain; Cargo installs that toolchain when needed.

git clone --branch dev https://github.com/dancxjo/conduit.git
cd conduit
cargo xtask host std

The final command builds and runs the local Hello Form. For the interactive browser experience, also install Node.js and npm, then add the WASM target:

rustup target add wasm32-unknown-unknown
cargo xtask demo tour

The first build takes longer than subsequent runs. cargo xtask doctor reports prerequisites for several targets; missing browser-proof or Pico tools do not block the local Hello example. Try Conduit covers native Patchbay, browser Hosts, and further examples.

conduit is the installed product command. cargo xtask builds and runs repository development workflows. The checkout commands above work without assuming that conduit is already installed.

Help build it

Contributions to examples, explanations, usability, tests, and implementations are welcome. Start by running something, then choose a small improvement you can explain and verify. The contributor guide covers setup, finding the right files, and opening a PR against dev.

Current work includes making the ConduitOS shell easier to use, correcting the default lifecycle of quiet programs, and completing the House and physical laptop journeys. See the roadmap for their dependencies and open issues.

The documentation index connects tutorials, architecture, target guides, evidence, and historical records. You can learn the parts you need as you go.